Cybercrime on the rise: Can your business afford to take the hit?

With the Cyber risk landscape evolving at a rapid pace and existing security technologies being rendered obsolete, preparation is key when it comes protecting your business. Cyber insurance is not just for businesses that store sensitive information. It can cover costs and lost income arising from an interruption to your business operations arising out of a cyber incident. If you’re reliant on software or systems, you have an insurable risk.

Throughout 2022-23 the top 3 cyber crimes reported to law enforcement through ReportCyber were from basic everyday tasks made by employees and business owners alike:

• Email compromise
• Business email compromise fraud
• Online banking fraud

Even if you know not to provide your bank details to an unknown person, phishing scams such as clicking on a link or attachment sent by a seemingly known sender can allow access to your details. In some cases, these details can be used to access your email account, from which the cybercriminal can send an invoice to a customer with new fraudulent bank details for your customer to pay into instead.

Although steps can be taken to improve your cyber security and increase awareness to the type of scams that can arise, these tasks are essential to the day to day running of a business, leaving businesses unable to eliminate risk. With this exposure it’s important to know what an attack could cost you and whether you could afford the business interruption and costs for recovery.

Small businesses according to the ASD Cyber Threat Report in 2022-23 impacted by the cost of cybercrime, recorded significant loses of an average of $45,965 over the two financial years.

With almost 77% of reported cybercrime in Australia being reported from NSW, VIC and QLD, businesses in the Eastern states are particularly at risk. This is where having an expert to assess your business for vulnerabilities can help you reduce the chances of an incident occurring and in turn help translate that into more competitive premiums and coverage.

Different cyber insurance policies cover different things. Making sure you have the right policy, tailored to your business and covering what you want covered, is essential to ensuring you are protected. Brokers can assist you with identifying the cover you do need and help assess what you don’t, so you don’t end up paying too much.

With the help of the right insurance broker, you can have peace of mind in knowing that you have the right policy and that you’ll be supported by experts in the event of a claim when you need it most.

This communication is for general information purposes only and does not take into account any specific individual’s or business’s objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any of the information provided herein, you should consider how it applies to your specific circumstances and contact an insurance broker and / or other appropriately qualified professional to discuss. Any advice given on what is or is not covered under any specific insurance policies is general only. You should always refer to the relevant PDS and policy wording to determine whether the coverage is appropriate for your individual circumstances.

References:

ASD Cyber Threat Report 2022-23  https://www.cyber.gov.au/about-us/view-all-content/reports-and-statistics/asd-cyber-threat-report-july-2022-june-2023

Author: Sophie Cooke